Improvement in barbed fence-wires



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALEXANDER G. DECKER, OF BUSHNELL, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF OF HIS RIGHT TO JOHN MGNEILL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN BARBED FENCE-WIRES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 186,716, dated January 30, 1877; application filed June 13, 1876. i v

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER O. DECKER,

of Bushnell, in the county of McDonough and State of Illinois, have invented certain Improvements in Barbed-Wire Fences, of which the following is a specification:

My invention relates to netted or reticulated fences, composed of Wires united or interwoven in such manner as to produce meshes; and the invention consists in sharpening the ends of the wires which form the meshes and constitute the body of the fence, and arranging said ends in such manner that they will repel animals from the fence, as hereinafter more fully explained.

My improvement is applicable to wire fences having meshes of any of the common forms; but, in practice. I prefer to .employa fence with square meshes composed of two or more horizontal wires connected by a series of vertical wires, the latter having their ends coiled around and extended slightly beyond the former, and sharpened, to form the repelling points or spurs, which may be set in any position desired.

Figurelrepresents a face view of my squaremesh fence, having threehorizontal wires; Fig. 2, a cross-section of the same; Fig. 3, a face view of a similar fence having only two horizontal wires.

A A represent the horizontal wires, intended to extend from post to post, and sustain the body of the fence, and B B represent the short vertical wires connecting the wires A A with each other. The wires B have their ends coiled firmly around the wires A, and extended slightly beyond the same, and have their projecting ends sharpened to form points or spurs a, which are bent upward, downward, laterally, or in other directions best adaptedto prevent animals from hearing against the fence. The wires A A will be placed a greater or a less distance apart, according to the size of the meshes desired, and the wires B B separated a corresponding distance from each other..

In the drawing, the wires B are each represented as connecting only two wires, A but, if desired, each one may be made of such length as to connect three wires, or more, if

preferred, however, to employ the short vertical wires extending only from one of the horizontal wires to the next,-for the reason that, by their use, the fence is given a greater number of repelling-points than when the longer wires are used.

The wires B may be prevented from moving laterally by compressing them into the wires A by bending the wires A on each side of the coils, or in any other suitable manner. The best plan, however, of securing the wires B from lateral displacement is to employ horizontal wires having beads or ribs lengthwise on their outer surface, into which the coils of the vertical wires may be seated by pressure. The wire used may be, however, of a round, square, concavo-con vex, or other suitable form.

It is preferred to unite the vertical and the horizontal wires firmly to each other, in order that they may give a mutual support and render the fence stiff and rigid; but in case it should be desired to make high fencing in panels or lengths the vertical wires may be allowed to turn on the others, so that the fence can be doubled or folded lengthwise in a compact form for transportation.

The essential feature of the invention is the sharpening of the ends of the wires which form the body of the fence, and arranging them in such manner that they serve to repel animals, and thereby protect the fencing from injury; and so long as this feature is retained, the form of the meshes and the arrangement of the wires may be varied, as desired.

Having thus described my-invention, what I claim is 1. A wire-mesh fence having the ends of the wires which form its body sharpened, and arranged to serve as repelling points or spurs, substantially as described and shown.

2. The herein-described fence, consisting of two or more horizontal wires, A, and vertical wires B, coiled. thereon, and provided with sharp projecting ends a, as shown.

ALEXANDER O. DECKER. Witnesses:.

P. '1. Donen, WILL W. DODGE. 

